


navigating you

by muse_apollo



Series: muse's ZsaszMask oneshots [3]
Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: (?), Bedsharing, Character Study, Fluff, M/M, Relationship Study, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:41:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23207161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muse_apollo/pseuds/muse_apollo
Summary: It took Victor some time to figure Roman out, he was a complicated man, difficult to navigate at the best of times, an issue which was only further exacerbated where touch was concerned. Most of the time, Roman had to initiate touch, and in public, it was always required that he initiated it. Victor did not touch Roman in public at all, though sometimes, Roman touched him, usually a subtle brush of the shoulder.Among all of Roman’s little complications, however, sleep was the most difficult for Victor to navigate.(a study in intimacy)
Relationships: Roman Sionis/Victor Zsasz
Series: muse's ZsaszMask oneshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639804
Comments: 7
Kudos: 163





	navigating you

**Author's Note:**

> I could not stop thinking about this so I had to write this out.

It took Victor some time to figure Roman out, he was a complicated man, difficult to navigate at the best of times, an issue which was only further exacerbated where touch was concerned. Most of the time, Roman had to initiate touch, and in public, it was _always_ required that he did. Victor did not touch Roman in public at all, though sometimes, Roman touched him, usually a subtle brush of the shoulder. It was never much when they were in public, 

In private, touch was more accepted, though it had taken him some time to learn what kinds of touches were appropriate, at what times, based on Roman’s moods. He was still never entirely predictable, but Victor got it right about eighty percent of the time these days.

Among all of Roman’s little complications, however, sleep was the most difficult for Victor to navigate. Some things were constant, like how Roman had a precise skincare routine he observed every night before he went to bed. Or how he had to have his pillows fluffed and positioned  _ just so _ , or how he had special ‘sleep socks’ because his feet always got too cold at night. Like how Roman always showered after sex, because he couldn’t stand the feeling of sweat on his skin.

Sometimes -rarely- he invited Victor to come accompany him, kissed him under the water, held him close. Sometimes he asked Victor to wash his hair for him. 

Mostly though, the shower was a ritual which Roman observed on his own. Victor was either told to stay in the bed and wait for him, or asked to be gone by the time Roman got back.

Sometimes Roman was clingy. Sometimes he crawled into bed and settled like a rock on Victor’s chest, pinning him against the mattress. Sometimes he would make Victor sit with Roman’s head in his lap and run his fingers through his hair while Roman complained about everything that had upset him that day until he had wound down enough to finally rest.

Then there were the nights when he would kick Victor out of bed…  _ literally,  _ kick. There had been many an occasion on which Victor had taken a foot to the centre of his spine, been sent rolling onto the floor; the result of touching Roman the wrong way, or saying the wrong thing, or simply rolling over one too many times in too short a period. God  _ forbid _ he accidentally hogged the blanket...

Sex was just as confusing really. Some nights, Roman is rough, sometimes he pushed Victor down, clawed and bit at his skin, taking what he wanted from him. Other times, he wanted to be held down, wanted Victor to leave bruises on his skin, wanted to feel him for days after.

And other times still, he was tender. Those times, he would settle into Victor’s lap and kiss him slow and sweet, a warm and comforting presence against his body. Those nights, they would have slow sex, staying close, breathing each other's air, and afterwards -after the shower of course- Roman would cling to him while he fell asleep, whispering praise against Victor’s skin. Those nights were the most rare, and the most unsettling for Victor. He wasn’t used to tenderness, didn’t know how to respond to it. It made him tense up, not so much in discomfort as in complete lack of understanding of his situation.

Tonight is one such night, a night where Roman had settled on top of him like a dead weight, clinging to him, one leg draped across him, his head buried in the crook of Victor’s neck. Tonight he snores softly into Victor’s skin while Victor runs his fingers gently through his hair, his eyes staring up at the ceiling in the dark.

Victor himself had never been…  _ good  _ at sleeping. His skin itched if he stayed still for too long, there was always an electricity buzzing in his blood, a constant need to move, to act. There was always something else to be doing. He’d taken to smoking a joint before bed, that or having a few drinks; just enough to get his brain to stop burning the way it always did. But tonight he hadn’t gotten the chance, and now he lay awake, trying to keep his body as still as he could. He couldn’t move, couldn’t take the risk of disturbing Roman’s steady rest.

It wasn’t that he really minded, laying still, staring up at the ceiling, well Roman slept peacefully on his chest. The weight was comforting, he liked the steady beat of Roman’s heart against his ribs. It would be so easy to stop it. Victor had stopped enough hearts in his life. Roman knew that, and yet he slept, just like this; because he trusted Victor. Because he knew that of all the people in the world, Roman was the only one it would hurt Victor to see dead.

And Victor would never hurt him… well, no more than Roman asked him to. It brought him no small amount of pleasure that Roman trusted him the way he did, let him take care of him.

So he lay still, and he stared up at the ceiling, and though he doubted he would sleep that night, he didn’t mind so much. 


End file.
